Robert Oster Signature Ink - Bondi Blue - A Short Review

[Cryptos]

Robert Oster Signature Inks are a new line coming out of South Australia and are making enthusiasts sit up and take notice! They are very competitively priced too.

 

So, I acquired a handful of these, thus:

1. Moss
2. Emerald Green
3. Deep Sea
4. Bondi Blue
5. Fire Engine Red
6. Yellow Sunset

In the following short reviews the writing samples are created using an Osmiroid B4 italic nib and an Esterbrook 2048 fitted to a standard XT Esterbrook dip-less pen holder.

All writing is by dipping. More time is needed to discover how these inks behave in cartridges, converters or eyedroppers.

 

Swabs for comparison with other inks will be provided later in the week – I’m all out of Q-tips!

 

So, it's off to the beach and the clear blue skies...

 

 

This is a bright blue quite reminiscent of Diamine Asa blue. Not a great deal of shading (no sheen either), but quite pleasant overall. Probably a little too light for my purposes, though I may find a use for it yet! Dry time is similar to Deep Sea - perhaps it's a coastal air thing!

 

Paper is, of course, Rhodia.

[Jamerelbe]

Bondi (pronounced "Bond-eye" for the benefit of our overseas friends) is one of Australia's (Sydney's) most famous beaches - famous for its sun, sand, surf, and over-abundance of New Zealanders!

 

I've visited once or twice - a beautiful spot, but precisely *because* of its fame, pretty crowded in summer months. Thankfully, I live 80+km south of Sydney - the south coast of New South Wales s every bit as pretty, but there's less competition to get into the water...

 

Thanks for the quick review, Mr EoC - I've got a few too many turquoises already (Blackstone Barrier Reef Blue, anyone?), so this won't make my short-list - but I really like the colour! will be interested to hear about the flow characteristics of these inks as you try them out in your pens...

[cleosmama]

I like this one--not as much as the Deep Sea color, but it's still very nice.

[gregamckinney]

I like this color a lot. Good to see short dry times too (especially compared to Emerald.)

 

greg

[visvamitra]

Looks rather plain and boring but I may be wrong.

[DrDebG]

Very nice review. Honestly, I think I prefer others, mainly because of the shading and sheen.

[TSherbs]

These are all nice inks and reviews, EOC

[Cryptos]

Thanks, these short reviews are all brief first looks for me. I'll do something more in depth as I get more experience with them, though I daresay that I'll be overtaken in quick time by the more experienced reviewers!

[dcwaites]

I currently have this ink as well as School Blue in a pair of pens I take to work. It is a nice bright ink with a little shading.

[gregamckinney]

Hey EoC, on my screen, the white levels were very low on the original. Is this any closer to the original sample?:

http://www.gergyor.com/images/fpn_1463803777__oster_bondi_blue_levels-up.jpg

 

The color reminds me a lot of Noodler's Luxury Blue, which I like a lot. Having a version of it that is non-bulletproof (and much cheaper) would be nice.

 

greg

Edited May 22, 2016 by gregamckinney

[Cryptos]

Yep, that's better. I don't have any way of scanning the colour registers so I just try to go by eye.

[migo984]

I'll be up near Bondi Beach today, and I have a bottle of this. It'll be fun to compare the colour of the sea to the ink :-)

[Cryptos]

If you can find an ink that looks like the colour of the Coral Sea that would be entertaining. Bit further north of course!

[dcwaites]

If you can find an ink that looks like the colour of the Coral Sea that would be entertaining. Bit further north of course!

 

The problem with the Coral Sea is that the colour varies so much depending on depth, substrate, etc.. Blackstone's Barrier Reef Blue is probably the closest in that it, too, varies in colour according to pen, paper, frame of mind of the writer, and the like.

Edited May 22, 2016 by dcwaites

[gregamckinney]

Yep, that's better. I don't have any way of scanning the colour registers so I just try to go by eye.

I can never get the white white enough, so a quick PS tweak always helps my shots.

greg

[Cryptos]

I can adjust the picture in an editing program to show the paper as white but I don't think it does it sympathetically. Or to put it another way, when I've tried it the screen colour of the ink never looks the same as the actual sample does to my eye.

 

Part of my problem is I don't have any kind of set up for photographs. Currently I use a 13 year old digital camera resting on some books and pointing at the subject, which is usually lit with a desk lamp that has one of those energy saving bulbs in it. Sometime I'll hold some white sheets around to try and get a better spread of light. It's all a bit rubbish really. I should get a tent.